


Saving You

by Lethargic_Pink



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir Needs a Hug, Angst and Fluff, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, Gabriel Agreste | Papillon | Hawk Moth Knows, Gabriel Agreste | Papillon | Hawk Moth Redemption, Heavy Injury, I killed Gabriel, Identity Reveal, Major Character Injury, Marinette Dupain-Cheng Needs a Hug, My first fic, Temporary Character Death, and then saved him because I'm too much of a softy, cool new scars, totally not beta read
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-11
Updated: 2020-04-18
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:01:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 13,920
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23591254
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lethargic_Pink/pseuds/Lethargic_Pink
Summary: After a time, Marinette opened her eyes, unsure of what had happened, what time it was. She was looking up at the twilight sky, clouds of smoke and dust separating the patches of purple, blue, and orange. Not much time had passed since whatever happened had happened. She was thankful everyone had evacuated. Then her brief thirty seconds of ignorance after waking up was over.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 33
Kudos: 177





	1. After the Battle

The entire city was evacuating. Paris had been hit by many strong akuma, ones that didn’t really have reasons for what they did. They weren’t the almost-fun, possibly cute, talkative villains anymore and Ladybug and Chat Noir wondered what had caused Hawkmoth to suddenly lose it.

Of course, Chat and Ladybug always, albeit close, defeated the akuma, returning Paris to its state of relative peace from before, but this time, this time Hawkmoth had sent out a claim. It appeared that he no longer wanted to hide and from his actions, didn’t really care what happened anymore. He was being hazardous, suddenly spontaneous.

“I am tired of these pitiful games,” he announced, “Come, fight me! I will be at the Eiffel tower at dusk in two days!” This had caused Marinette to worry because, despite being a villain, this was very unlike him. This could very well be a trap and Marinette did not need anyone getting dragged into the fight, so using the time given, she evacuated the city.

Even more suspicious was that Hawkmoth didn’t take advantage of the situation.

And, despite what either hero thought, when they arrived at the scene at the appointed time, there were no tricks, no gimmicks, just a fused peacock Hawkmoth. 

Hawkmoth though lacking in strategy, had been strong even without the help of an akuma. He used the peacock miraculous to make sentimonsters to pick up the lack of help. 

While dodging the attack of one said sentimonster, made from the eiffel tower itself, Ladybug had caught a glimpse of Hawkmoth’s eyes. What she saw there almost froze her in place. 

There was a mad glare in his eyes, crazy and wild, the type you’d see in the eyes of a hungry animal. It bore into her, threatening to tear her apart, ripped viciously to pieces the moment he could get his hands on her. The eyes of a predator hunting his prey.

And it was frightening. 

What had happened to this man, neither Chat nor Ladybug could answer, but it was clearly very bad.

Hawkmoth had eventually cornered the young heroes, trapped beneath the strength of the sentimonsters, Chat’s Cataclysm used, Ladybug’s Lucky Charm broken, and they could do nothing should he reach out for them. How did they get to this point? Where had things gone wrong? 

There was no answer to process, for their minds had gone blank, the panic of standing before death the only thing they could feel. They had to run, had to get away, but how? Chat thrashed and clawed at the sentimonster, Ladybug frozen, stuck in an endless loop of plans to get away, none showing promise. 

He was there, right in front of them, they were so close, but she couldn’t even move a tired arm. This battle had been a stamina one, stuck at the top of the Eiffel tower. Ladybug hadn’t thought that she wouldn’t be able to find anything to use or that they wouldn’t be able to run. It turned out that Hawkmoth had planned. He’d made anything useful into a sentimonster, blocked any escape route, and they’d walked into it. 

Desperate, they both wished, hoped that there was something that could be done to save themselves, and when they thought that, right as Hawkmoth was about to finally grasp his desire, there was a brilliant red and green light that flashed before them. 

Everything was white for a few seconds, and Marinette thought that she was floating, before a rush of sound threatened to burst her eardrums. She was falling, and so many other things were falling. What they were, she wasn’t sure, they were probably the sentimonsters, but she had no way to check. All that she knew was the orange and red fire of the sky above her and the air rushing past her as things heavier than her fell.

Marinette heard a scream. It was monstrous, thick and deep, not her partner, thankfully. It was frustration and pain, and finally sorrow, ending in a sob before being cut off, leaving only the sound of rubble as it hit the ground.

After a time, Marinette opened her eyes, unsure of what had happened, what time it was. She knew nothing for only a split second as her eyes adjusted. Sound echoed in muffled meaningless reverberations and her ears rang. She was looking up at the twilight sky, clouds of smoke and dust separating the patches of purple, blue, and orange. Not much time had passed since whatever happened had happened. The sun was still up, but it was on the horizon, silhouetted by the shattered remains of Paris. She was thankful everyone had evacuated.

And her brief thirty seconds of ignorance after waking up was over. Her mind cleared and Marinette bit back a scream. Pain flooded her mind, her nerves felt like they were burning. When she looked down at the source of the pain, she found her right foot smashed beneath a large piece of debris, and one of her wrists was punctured by a thin rod of iron, the type you’d find within the construction of walls. 

After collecting her well being, her mind kicked in gear, trying to save it’s body. She could do something about this. First, she had to make two improvised tourniquets. With her right hand, she tore at her shirt, the fabric being the thinnest she had on her. She still had her jacket, showing a little bra was hardly first priority. 

With her right hand and her mouth, she ripped her shirt into two long strands and two shorter ones, then, trying to reach her left arm without moving too much, Marinette wrapped the scrap fabric as tightly as she could around the middle of her forearm before searching her worse for wear purse for a pen. She knotted the loose ends of the fabric around it and twisted, gritting her teeth against the pain. If her nerves were burning before, they were definitely burning now. Her eyes seared with held tears

After twisting a few times, she took one of the smaller scraps and tied the the pen in place. It wasn’t the best improvised tourniquet, but it would do for now. Marinette grabbed for her phone in her purse. The screen was shattered but otherwise fine, though Marinette couldn’t really tell if it was fine on the inside, but it turned on nonetheless. She absently reminded herself to talk to Max about it later. The time was 7:43, the sun would set soon. Marinette burned the numbers into her mind, she’d need to remember them.

Now, she just had to get this rod out of her wrist. She knew she shouldn’t pull things out when you have a penetrating injury, but the rod was still stuck in the ground, at least a foot had already gone through her, and she had to get away from there. No one would be coming back for awhile yet. If she had any chance of survival, she needed to be able to move, and having a large rod in her wrist was not going to help. She had to be quick, not only for her sake, but her partner’s. She hadn’t seen or heard any sign of him yet, but she knew he was still alive, for now at least, and she needed to find him.

Lucky for Marinette, the rod had pierced a few inches up from her wrist, right between her radius and ulna, barely missing her vital arteries. There had still been some bleeding but she’d cut off the flow quick enough. Unfortunately, what had pierced her was an iron rod, with all it’s grooves. She couldn’t just go back the way she came. She would have though, if a foot of the material hadn’t gone through her already.

But she had a feeling. She started beating at the loose debris around the rod, thankfully it fell away and Marinette was so glad her hunch was right. An inch and a half down, the rod had snapped, leaving a sharp end. Carefully, she wiped as much dirt away and then, bracing for more pain, tore the rod the rest of the way through her arm. A groan ending in a whimper escaped her lips.

Marinette turned towards her leg, still caught beneath the debris. This was gonna hurt so much more. She tugged her pant leg up, rolling it so it would stay away from the injury, glad that the debris hadn’t caught the hem. Then she prepared the next tourniquet around the upper half of her calf, close to her knee but half an inch away from the joint. She scavenged her second pen from her purse -thank the heavens she was an artist!- and tightened the tourniquet much like the last one. 7:47.

Marinette feared what she had to do next, but it had to be done. Hopefully it could be. 

She then took the bloodied rod she’d pulled through her wrist and stuck it into the gap between her smashed leg and the debris. This was possibly a fruitless endeavor. If she didn’t get medical attention soon, she would loose her leg anyways. In fact, even with medical attention, her leg could still be forfeit. She was sure that after she took it out, she’d never be able to use it again. But Marinette’s strategic thought process had kicked in and she preferred living with the loss of a limb over dying to crush syndrome. 

Understanding that taking her leg out now would be like amputating it, she closed her eyes in acceptance. 

_She was going to live._

Her resolve renewed, she brought the rod down, using her left elbow to aid her right hand, and levered the debris up. Quickly she dragged her leg out from under the debris and let go, allowing the debris to crash back where her leg had once been, blowing out a cloud of dust. Marinette coughed, squinting.

Marinette was enjoying a very, very brief moment of relief to have her body rid of any foreign objects, she refused to look at her mangled leg, when a scream tore through the air. It was pure pain and fear. It shook her to the very core of her being and instinctually, she already knew what she was about to reason, and because it was his, it would haunt her nightmares forever.

The scream was higher in octave than the scream she’d heard earlier, but definitely male. There were only two people here that it could belong to, the first was not her partner and she refused to think of his fate, and the other was her partner, and she hadn’t heard from him yet, it could only be one person.

Fear gripped at Marinette’s heart as she scrambled to get up, using a larger, loose rod as a cane. The scream had lasted only a few seconds, but she had gotten closer within that time. 

“Kitty?!” she called out a moment after, trying to locate the origin of the sound from memory, tears in her eyes. 

What if she was too late? What if she couldn’t do anything to help? What if… no. No ‘what if’s, she had to focus on what she could do, and for now, she could locate Chat Noir.

It was getting harder to locate anything within the shadow of the base of the Eiffel Tower. The sun was setting fast, and she needed the light to help him. 

“M’Lady…?” He gasped. His voice sounded hoarse and ragged, likely from that scream. “Keep talking to me Chat! Please keep talking!” she pleaded. He coughed a laugh out, “So M’Lady does love to hear my voice, good to know.” His smile was evident in the words, but so was the strain. What had happened?

She continued forward, stumbling over cement and metal, surely he had to be close by. “Continue!” she called out to him, focusing on her ears that she may catch even his breath. “I have to say…” he started before falling to a coughing fit, “this is pretty cat-astrophic, even for meow.” she didn’t even cringe when she heard his puns, too focused on finding him. She struggled forward, fell, scuffed her hand, iron rod cane cutting into her flesh, and got up again. “I’m really not feline puretty good about this one.” 

That was when she found him. He was on the slope to a small pile of rubble and she’d come from behind him. She gasped when she saw him and he looked up towards her but stopped before he could see her face, trying to not move and strain the injuries. 

Marinette kneeled down beside him, so focused on assessing the threat to his life, the most evident fact did not register. Instead, she was already working on how to save him. 

Chat didn’t seem injured at first glance, but his arm was broken, bruises and cuts danced across his skin. In some places, skin had been torn away, leaving a bloody mess. His forehead had a shallow cut, not life threatening, but still a lot of blood. 

“Anything else I can’t see?” She asked, eyeing the amount of blood already beginning to pool. There was likely an injury to his torso.

“Oh nothing,” he said with a groan, “just a piece of metal through my back, you know, ordinary predicament.” Marinette ignored his tone, likely a coping method, she dismissed. She ripped his skinny jeans, checking for serious cuts -nothing too bad thankfully- and tore pieces off to bundle and have Chat hold to his head. 

She decided the broken bone in his right arm could be attended to after getting him up off whatever had punctured him. In all likelihood, it was going to be another iron rod. Marinette was, sadly, not disappointed. She pushed her hand beneath him, checking at what angle the rod was and felt the familiar groove of the rod. She sighed before clenching her teeth. This was going to be tough.

Chat cleared his throat, “Um, Princess? What are you planning to do?” 

She stared at his stomach, eyes unwavering as she sorted things. “Where does it hurt the most?” She asked. “Aside from everywhere?” he attempted to make a small shrugging action only to grimace and stop. He brought his uninjured left hand towards his stomach with as little movement as possible. Hovering over his abdomen, to the left of his navel. “Here.” 

Marinette felt a small sense of relief. He’d landed directly on it, she didn’t have to worry about things like the angle the rod had gone in.

“Alright,” She kneeled on her injured leg, the other ready to push up and straighten. “I’m gonna move you Adrien,” she’d said the name without realizing it, and continued on, not noticing the familiar name or how he tensed a little under the weight of its use. “And you’re gonna have to stay as still as possible.” She still hadn’t looked away from his torso when she saw the slight nod out of the corner of her eyes.

After gently laying his broken arm across him, she slid her hands under his back. She was a little worried that her left arm would make her drop him, but she could just bring him closer to her. Oh how she hoped this would work.

He stifled a grimace as she moved her hands beneath him, aiming to have a good hold on him when she lifted him. He was trying to focus on not the pain and not the fact that his M’lady was his Princess at the same time and neither seemed to be going well. 

As he looked down, watching her, he fought not to look at the exposed bra and her white skin in all it’s beautiful glory. Even as he engraved the sight to his mind, he thought of how now was not the time.

Finding a good balance, she leaned over him and asked “Alright, ready?” He only grunted, his focus now finding its way back to the pain and what was at hand. “Ok,” she took a breath, “One,” she gripped his sides tightly, “Two,” he held his breath, “Three…!” He shut his eyes and she lifted him up straight and fast, ignoring how her left arm screamed at her. Adrien gasped as the bar scraped out of his insides, his eyes blowing wide open. Marinette wobbled a little.

Before she fell over, she twisted away from the bloodied spire, thanking her lucky stars she didn’t fall, and put Adrien down.

Less than a second after having touched the ground, Adrien found himself face down in the dirt as Marinette held his broken arm gently. Despite being injured, she was still fast. 

She tugged his white overshirt off, tore a long stip of fabric from his thin skinny jeans, bunched the already stained shirt up, pushed the bunch against the wound, and tied it tightly to him. 

Having been relatively bandaged, he tried to get up, but immediately stopped when his inside sloshed. He was sure he was still bleeding inside. He sighed and reminded himself that this was only emergency treatment. Marinette turned him over again and helped him sit up, this time without as much pain. 

Adrien held his arm stable as Marinette tore more fabric from his pants, grabbed a random stick that was relatively straight, and began making a splint. She then shrugged her jacket off, careful of her hand, and he quickly turned his gaze away, failing to keep a blush from spreading across his cheeks. 

Marinette put the body of the jacket around his arm, crossed the sleaves, and tied them around Adrien’s neck. He had secretly hoped that, like with the rest of the tearing of clothes, she would use her teeth to tie the makeshift sling, just to feel her breath on his neck, and had quickly banished the thought as he used his other hand to help her. 

Leaving the dirty thoughts aside, thinking past the pain, he was just now taking in what she looked like. His lady was the very definition of “hot mess.” She looked like one of those cool heroines from survival movies. She had ash brushed across her cheek and half her hair fell loosely around her shoulders. Somehow she made dry blood look good. Then he let his eyes flow down. 

She was without as many cuts and bruises, her form still strong and he could see the soft line of muscles on her stomach and arms that were usually hidden, a gift of being a super hero. Then he saw what happened to her shirt and cursed. A piece of the shirt was wrapped tightly around her forearm and he saw the hole punched through her arm. His eyes continued to fall, until he saw the other half of her shirt, and… he turned away before he could make out the details. He knew he didn’t want to see that.

So he looked past her, purple began taking over the sky, followed by blue. Soon the sun would set. “Are you alright?” Marinette asked, bringing his sight back to her. Her blue eyes full of worry, even now they looked so beautiful. He would ask himself how he never realized, but he knew the power of magic. He felt a smile tug at the corner of his lips, “Better now that you’re here.” He leaned towards her, carefully resting himself against her without putting too much weight in, and she let him. She sighed, tension leaving just a little. 

Marinette looked down at Adrien, she was still kneeling, so he didn’t have to lean far to rest his head just below her collarbone. He was still alive. He was making jokes. Her wonderful minou, her partner, her friend, her love. Adrien. It was Adrien all along. She felt a small dam break in her, releasing relief, happiness, and love. She now recognized that it had been exactly as Tikki had said, she _had_ come to love Chat, and she was happy that she didn’t have to fight it either.

The thought of Tikki brought back a moment of panic, causing Adrien to look up at her with those brilliant green eyes she loved. She could just fall into them… no! Not yet, she had to focus on what had happened to Tikki, to Plagg! But before that, she had to get both of them away from here. They had to find a place to stay for the night. It was unlikely they’d reach the evacuation camp before the sun set. She hoped they could last that long. For some reason though, as soon as that worry came, it was soothed, and she wholeheartedly believed they would be okay. They were together now, they could get through anything. With that thought, Marinette realized that what she felt swelling in her heart, the feeling in her body, it was that of completeness, which was silly because she was torn here and there, but it was there. She felt like she had just found her other half, and she fought not to just grab Adrien and bring him as close to her as she could. 

Marinette looked behind her, the sun dipped dangerously low. They had to go. She, despite every part of her body wishing not to, pulled herself from Adrien, creating a space of a few inches between them. “We gotta go.” She said to him, and he could hear the desperation there. He nodded and carefully pushed himself up. 

When he’d gotten to his feet, he looked down to see Marinette reaching for her mock-cane. He bent down, cautious of his injury, and offered his good hand. She glanced between it and the cane before giving him her good hand. He pulled her up and then crouched to grab the cane. He would have liked to offer that she lean on him to walk, but he still had a hole through his stomach and couldn’t handle the stress. 

Even though he thought that, as they walked, she wrapped her injured arm around his neck, her good hand still holding rod cane. She kept most her weight on the cane, but she did rely on him as well. 

Their pace was steady, and as the sun finally set, they’d reached a part of the city that wasn’t completely broken. They’d walked a couple of miles along the Seine before they’d finally found a building that was still partially standing and could last too. Just beyond was the first bridge they’d found to cross the Seine, the previous ones had been caught in the blast. 

It would likely take another hour to reach the evacuation tents and get some proper treatment, but it was now dark, no lights lit the street, and they were surrounded by debris. If Marinette wasn’t careful, she’d slip and cut herself on the shards of glass below her feet. So they walked into one of the hotel rooms that stood open, among a wall of similar looking rooms, reminiscent of honeycombs. They grabbed the few blankets they could find and huddled together on one of the beds that was still alright. 

They leaned against one another under the cover of the blanket, good hands interlaced, and stared out through the missing wall and into the sky. There was no light pollution and all of Paris was dark with emptiness, so the stars were very visible that night, even through the haze of destruction. The moon was red like blood. Neither of them had ever seen this many stars before. Adrien had only been allowed to go where his father let him, and Marinette had never left Paris.

They took comfort in the other’s presence, but they both missed their kwami. Where could they have gone? What happened? They were left with more questions than answers. 

“Hey Princess?” Marinette felt his jaw move ever so slightly against her head, his voiced rumbling through her, echoing like her own did. “Yes?” She answered against his shoulder. “Where did you learn such intense first aid?” It was a good question, but she couldn’t answer, she had no idea herself. She’d taken some first aid classes, but nothing that told her about what to do when someone’s impaled. So she told him exactly that. “Huh, well I’m glad you knew.” He responded. She nodded in agreement, feeling the scrape of her earrings on her cheek. She didn’t register that, it was something so natural.

“We ought to get to sleep, Chaton, we need to be able to get to the evacuation camp tomorrow.” He hummed alongside her. She remembered then that he could purr. After hearing it the first time, she’d decided to look up other sounds cats made and what they meant, hoping just a little that he could make the others too. Purring could express happiness, but they could also do it when they were heavily injured or dying. Research had pointed out that purring also helped in the healing process and could be used to calm themselves.

Adrien needed that.

Marinette thought of what could make him happy. 

“Adrien.” she whispered, and he turned to look at her properly when she shifted up, kissing his cheek, before settling back down. “I’m glad it was you.” She whispered, the bluebell pools in her eyes never wavering. “I love you.” 

This revelation racked through his body. Sure, he thought after the reveal, with the way she was acting, that maybe she liked him now, but it was different hearing the words. They weren’t even the words he expected. He thought maybe “like” but not “love,” and yet here she was, saying the words he’d only dreamt of hearing. Despite how terrible today had gone, it may have been the best day ever.

Adrien peered out of his half lidded eyes, his pupils dilated wider than normal, and a purr rose up and out of him. He let go of her hand, though a little reluctant, and brought it to her cheek, she leaned in at the touch. She brought hers up to cup his cheek as well. “I love you too.” He breathed and they brought each other together. 

Marinette’s hand found its way to his hair, and she scratched lightly where his ears would have been. Adrien’s hand went to the back of her neck, his fingers brushing out the snarls of her hair, and they kissed. 

It was soft and sweet, the taste of iron just at the edges. Marinette could feel him purr against her, and she felt a soft giddiness. She decided then that Adrien’s purr was her new favorite sound.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my first fic so I wasn't sure what I should rate it, if you think it wasn't rated mature enough please comment!  
> Any constructive criticism, speculation, and feedback welcome! <3


	2. Magic Healing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for the support! Your comments and kudos have made my day! <3  
> I just had to release the next chapter! It's a bit shorter but the next one should be about as long as the last one.  
> If I have my way, I'll be finished with the next chapter soon and can post it!

Marinette wasn’t quite sure when she’d fallen asleep, only that she had and it was the middle of the night, the moon still hanging high among the stars. What had awoken her was a burning sensation in her ears and a heat that she could feel course through her body, leave her through Adrien’s hand, and come back to her through the same contact. 

She’d almost stood up at the startling feeling, pain immediately interpreting to fear and panic, however, the pressure of Adrien next to her, holding her hand, still warm, still breathing, had countered the reaction, grounding her to her spot and allowing her to think over what was happening.

With her left hand, Marinette reached to touch her hot ear, her fingers brushing across the smoothness of Tikki’s earrings, before running seamlessly into the skin of her lobe. Eyebrows knitting together before she ran her fingers back over the stud, she realized with confusion that her earrings were now firmly melded to her ears. 

A shift of fabric, the clatter of a pen, and Marinette remembered belatedly that she was using her left hand. _She was using her left hand_. She looked down in shock, the tourniquet had come undone impossibly and her hand was not just bleeding out. It lacked any of the pain she’d felt before, though the burn beneath her skin continued to flow through her.

She looked in wonder at the smooth scar on her wrist, only a shade lighter than the rest of her skin. It looked as if she’d had it for years, not just recently been stabbed. 

Quickly, she looked down at her right leg. It too no longer had the tourniquet wrapped securely around it. Where only a mess of flesh and muscle, mangled and torn beyond recognition had been, her foot now laid before her, as if its previous state had been but an illusion. Marks ran up and down her toes, curving in spirals over her foot and around her ankle, crawling up and tapering on her leg. They looked like primal tattoos, only without the ink, displaying what was an ancient and forgotten language that was familiar to Marinette though she’d never seen the symbols in her life before today. She could also see a cat and ladybug among the design, though she wondered if maybe she was imagining it like one does when they look at the patterns on a ceiling.

Carefully, Marinette willed her toes to move, relief flooding her when they responded. Then she looked over at Adrien. All the shallow cuts had faded, as if never existing in the first place, the deeper lacerations becoming scars similar to the one on her wrist. 

She wondered if he too received any tattoo-like marks. Marinette looked at his face, remembering the cut on his forehead, and hoping it too had disappeared along with the rest of the shallow cuts. It was already a drawback as a model that he’d received any of those scars. Usually her Miracle Cure completely fixed any injuries, never leaving any marks.

When she moved some of the blond fringe from his face, she found with disappointment that was quickly replaced with a feeling of connection that the scar had become a small mark similar to her own tattoo scars. At least these days, models with things like scars were becoming more widely accepted. It helped that it looked a bit like a tattoo should anyone see it for any purpose. There were plenty of tattooed models.

Tenderly, she grabbed his broken arm, unhooking her jacket from his neck. She observed with another dose of relief that his arm no longer bent at an odd angle. She tugged the splint off before noticing the black ring on his ring finger. It too was sealed to his skin, no space between ring and skin. 

She wondered if perhaps her earrings still had their spots. Neither his ring nor her earrings should have color, but they did, and the green paw print glowed up at her.

She was now itching to see his back. She hadn’t gotten to actually have a look earlier, worried that disturbing his shirt would be bad for the wounds. 

Adrien let out a pained groan as he opened his eyes then, blinking sleep away. “What the hell?” he muttered, letting out another groan. He shuffled a little and pulled his back away from the wall. It itched and burned like crazy. He flopped forward over his legs. 

What had happened again? Right right, they’d faced off against Hawkmoth, an explosion had gone off and he’d found himself punctured by a piece of metal in his back before his Lady had gotten to him and helped him. His eyes shot open now, his back straightening before he hunched again with a grimace. His Lady, his partner, his heart, Marinette. His eyes rushed about the open room looking for her before he registered the feeling of her hand in his and saw that she still sat beside him. Her eyes flickered between his face and his back. She looked like she wanted to say something but wasn’t sure if she could.

“Um,” she decided she could then. “Can I take a look at your back real quick?” His nose wrinkled in the sort of way she thought hers had when she first woke up confused. “Sure.” he said anyways.

Marinette’s eyes found their way to his back again. She slid her hand from his, immediately missing it and noticing he also didn’t like letting go of her. She tugged off the swath of red over shirt and gently lifted his shirt, finding the main point of impact. Where the iron rod had once pierced his skin there was a scar, similar in shape to her wrist before it flared out like a sun, reaching across his entire back in design like her leg. 

His entire back had been scarred. 

She yanked his shirt over his head, ignoring Adrien’s protests. It reached all the way up to his neck, and, with another yank, pulling the shirt all the way off, found that it covered his shoulders.

How had he managed to help her walk here?!

Tears stung her eyes, her body shaking in emotional pain. Marinette looked over at the surprised Adrien. “What’s wrong?” he sputtered, unsure of what to do. Unsure of why she was crying. “Why didn’t you tell me your back was so hurt?” she sobbed. His face cleared in recognition and turned away when shame crept onto his handsome features. 

“I didn’t want to worry you, and you needed help walking.” He replied. “If we hadn’t healed then that could have made your injuries worse!” she cried, finally seeing the red stains on the headboard where his back had been leaning against it before. Marinette was so glad that they’d healed.

Adrien looked back at her, “Healed?” she motioned to her leg, his eyes reluctantly following before seeing that it was okay, and then to his broken arm, or it should have been. Now it was fine. He looked back at her in shock. “And your wrist?” he asked. She brought it forward for him to rub his fingers over it gently. He stared at it in awe and went back to her foot to look at the intricate design carved into her skin. 

“Your back is like that too.” Marinette whispered to him, her tears now dry, but her eyes still red. “Really?” he inquired with a smile, a sparkle dancing in his eyes at the thought of matching her, the thought of her magic engraved in him as much as it was her. He had nothing to prove that it was her magic that did this, but he knew with a strong assurance that it was definitely because of her that this had happened.

Marinette nodded. “And our miraculous are currently seared into our skin.” She pointed out his ring. It truly was stuck there. He turned back to look at her again. “Do you think that’s what happened when that explosion went off?”

She contemplated that for a moment before admitting, “It’s possible. They are magical beings after all. It’s not like they couldn’t have done it.” Marinette rubbed at her temples. Since letting go of Adrien, the heat had begun to build up in her and she felt like she was melting from the inside out.

Adrien leaned towards her. “Hey, are you alright?” He reached up and touched her forehead. It felt nice. The contact immediately acting like a floodgate. His cool hand warmed up and they were both the same temperature again. Adrien shivered. He thought that he was feeling a bit chilly, but when he touched her, a heat rushed up his hand and chased the cold away.

He let his hand fall from her forehead and they both tightened at the change in temperature and energy. The heat began building up in Marinette again while his hand began to feel immensely cold. They both clambered to hold onto each other, a sigh escaping them when the pressure disappeared quickly.

“My guess is that this is because the miraculous are currently bonded to us.” Marinette said into his shoulder and he nodded in agreement. “I think that because we’ve merged with them, we’ve partially become miraculous ourselves and because of their bond, their balance, we need to be in contact to counteract their powers. The human body isn’t meant to hold the powers of the kwami. There’s a reason we have to wear certain accessories to access their power.” 

This was all a theory though. She didn’t have anything to prove it, but it sounded right. It explained why she knew so much about medicine now. It explained how she knew he was alive when she’d first woken up among the rubble. It explained all the small unexplainables they’d experienced that night. She laughed, “I bet you could use cataclysm without saying anything now.” He tensed at that and she knew he was now trying not to touch her with his hands but finding them still brushing against her skin as he couldn’t keep his hands off her. 

She could feel the warmth of his hands on her back, holding her close, and she reveled in it. She reveled in being able to actually touch him, to hold him close like this, neither of their suits getting in the way. She felt an ache ease in her heart, an ache of unknown origin, but she thought it might have belonged to Tikki as much as it had to her. She breathed him in, a familiar and comforting smell, though the smell of smoke and iron stung her nose shortly after his scent like a bitter after taste. She just wanted to stay here, forever wrapped up in his arms, but she had something she needed to do. Things that included Ladybug.

Ladybug needed to fix the city. Marinette needed to make it back to her friends and family before they became too worried. She could always come back to these arms now. Nothing could keep them apart. She dreamed happily of how Alya would react when she found out they were dating now, of getting Andre’s ice cream on a double date, or maybe just on their own. She couldn’t wait to officially have him meet her parents, to share dinner together. They could meet even after he left. They could run the rooves, hand in hand. She would go and meet his father as his girlfriend eventually. She’d try to be confident in front of him, and maybe she could convince him to not be as stern on Adrien. She could start designing all of his clothes if he wanted. That would be fun.

Their future now seemed to expand brightly before them.

Reluctantly, she pulled back a little from him and he did the same. “I’m going to try something real quick.” She whispered to him.

She held tightly onto his hand before calling “Tikki, spots off!” There was a bright pink light that emanated from her, not just dissolving off her. It held for a few seconds before, in a congregated burst, Tikki was ejected from Marinette, falling exhausted into her chosen’s lap. The heat lingered in Marinette, but from Adrien’s hand, it was quickly disappearing. “Quick, you do the same.” She urged.

“Plagg, claws in!” Adrien glowed an eerie green before Plagg too was ejected from him. He fell exhausted into Marinette’s lap as well. He lifted his heavy head up and reached for the shivering Tikki. They curled up together, shaking and tired. Marinette collected them in her hands. Adrien cupped his hands beneath hers and she moved to let them slide into his hands as she brought hers back up to cover them both. Following her instincts, she pushed the last of the magical warmth into her hands and out, to dwell between her and Adrien’s hands for a moment.

When Marinette pulled back, they both saw that the kwamis were noticeably better now. They’d stopped shaking and returned to their original color that she now noticed had faded. They were fast asleep.

As much as Marinette would like to clean up Paris as soon as possible, she had to admit that now, without the magical energy coursing through her veins, she was feeling drained and exhausted. Adrien seemed to be having the same problem. 

They huddled together again, now all four of them together. The thought that Tikki and Plagg were here now, comforted both of them. They quickly drifted back into a peaceful sleep, unknown to all but them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so I originally killed Gabriel in the last chapter. But then I started writing about Marinette's hopes and dreams and decided I couldn't do it.  
> Next time we'll get to see what happened to him!
> 
> Constructive criticism, speculation, and feedback are welcome! <3


	3. Terrible Secret

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This ended up being really long.  
> I'm not sure everyone will like what I did here since I end up saving Gabriel, but I hope you enjoy!  
> Maybe in another fic I'll kill him.

Early morning sunlight brushed across the four and stirred Adrien from his sleep. He looked around, remembering where he was, seeing the hotel room in the daylight. Everything seemed different now, unshrouded by the darkness of night.

He looked down next to him. Sometime in the middle of the night they must’ve moved into more comfortable positons because they were no longer sitting together but laying down. Seeing Marinette again, still without her shirt, in better lighting, he blushed, and the blush deepened when he realized they had been sleeping together. On the same bed. Right next to each other. In fact, until he sat up, she had still been in his arms, so scratch that, not just next to each other.

Marinette stirred, Adrien’s movement arousing her from her sleep. Her eyes fluttered open to fall onto the designs on her kitty’s back, he was turned from her, and then further to the mass destruction behind him, clearly evident through the gaping hole in the wall.

She sat up, rubbing her eyes, “Minou?” He didn’t reply. Her eyes alighted again on his scars and they softened. Her physical connection to him. The battle scars they shared would forever be something she held dear. 

She noticed how his shoulders were slightly pink, how he wouldn’t turn to her, and remembered, looking down at herself, that she still didn’t have a shirt, having torn it to shreds the night before. And now she was blushing, grabbing for her jacket that he no longer needed to use as a sling, and shrugged it on. Adrien also scrambled for his shirt. The shirt she’d literally torn off him, his thoughts whispered darkly to him. He really needed to focus on something else.

The jacket didn’t really do much to cover her, but at least it wasn’t as much exposure as before. Adrien looked back at her, keeping his eyes on her face, but she could still see the blush on his ears. The determination to not look down, to not think things he shouldn’t at the moment, was evident on his face and his expression made Marinette giggle.

Seeing how serious he was she quickly stopped, but only for a second before giggling again. He looked crestfallen, “What? What is it? Why do you keep laughing at me?” His questions only made it worse. She was trying her best now just to continue breathing.

After a few moments of laughter, she finally got out between laughs, “Nothing, nothing chaton. It’s just, this entire situation is silly.”

When he thought about it, he had to admit that it was kinda funny. They’d almost died and yet they were trying not to be flustered over seeing each other without their shirts. Adrien couldn’t help but laugh too, and he relaxed, only now realizing how tense he still was. 

After laughing, Adrien admitted, “But seriously now, what are we going to do next buginette?” She paused in thought, a smile still lingering. “Well, I suppose now we just gotta get the butterfly miraculous and fix Paris.” He nodded, still smiling as well. Then he looked up at her, a bright light in his eyes. “Guess we gotta transform.” He hadn’t actually seen Marinette transform yet and had to admit that he was excited to see it.

Her eyes crinkled in a smile, “Guess we should.”

After reluctantly waking up the kwamis, still latched onto each other, Marinette brought out a pair of macarons for them to recharge on. Sure it wasn’t the best food Plagg had ever had, but it would do… for now. He made Adrien promise a second cabinet of Camembert for all he’d done. With a laugh, Adrien agreed. 

Recharged, Marinette transformed and watched as Adrien stared at her in awe. Then he transformed and she had to fight an oncoming blush. Accepting that she loved Chat when he wasn’t “in front of her” was different than accepting she loved him when he was. Her restrictions had been demolished and she found it hard to not stare at the rippling of his muscles when he moved or the way the magic leather clung to him.

They leaped from the crumbling hotel and ran back towards the Eiffel tower, where Hawkmoth was likely lying dead. That thought sobered Ladybug. She was sure that he had been injured worse than either of them if his scream was to indicate anything. But Chat didn’t know that. He’d already passed out.

When they landed where only the base of the tower remained, they began looking for any clues to where Hawkmoth might be. Ladybug desperately did not want to find a broken and dead Hawkmoth, but she wanted her kitten to find him even less. For some reason, she felt that he couldn’t see him. A foreboding feeling gripped her. Seeing Hawkmoth was dangerous. There had been something wrong with him before too. So under the pretext of finding him quicker, she suggested they split up.

When she was out of his sight, she softly called for her Lucky Charm. What landed in her hands was a small black tile, red lines stemming from a circle in the middle, running out to the edge creating a bow tie shape. Ladybug bit back a bitter laugh, knowing exactly where it came from. Pain flashed in her eyes. Of course she’d know very well where it came from, even though she’d only visited a few times. She’d taken every detail in the first time she’d been there. 

She began running, too afraid that if she jumped at all, Chat would spot her. She could feel the distance between her and her chaton, like a thread that would always lead her back to him. Evidently, some effects of the magic, aside from the scars, lasted. She only hoped that Chat either didn’t feel it too, or wasn’t paying attention. She ran faster, hoping she’d have enough time before he followed.

It wasn’t long before she reached her destination, only about ten minutes. She stopped before the familiar gates. She’d stood here before them several times, contemplating whether or not she would go through with her plan. She’d even built a trash can pyramid with the help of a firefighter before. She almost laughed at the thought.

Of course it was here, so close to her everyday. It made so much sense she could barely even feel surprised: the Agreste Mansion.

The gates were left open and Ladybug could see splotches of reddish brown trailing into the mansion. The front doors stood agape like a mouth awaiting to swallow her in darkness, bloodied handprints left on them as if taunting her with proof of its last prey. The smell of iron was stifling. 

Numbly, Ladybug followed the trail in, through Gabriel’s atelier, to the painting of Adrien’s mother. Blood now stained the painting in a specific pattern, ruining the picture of Emilie swathed in golden patterns reminiscent of Gustav Klimt.

Relying on her instincts and luck, the very things that told her Chat couldn’t be here, she pushed the invisible buttons in the proper order. The floor moved beneath her and she began to descend, darkness engulfed her. She continued falling through it until dim light brightened her view. 

A large expanse of high arched ceilings opened up before her. It was dimly lit by the alcoves spread across the room. A single beam of sunlight lit the far end of the room where a tree wound up and encroached on a circular platform. The platform was covered in all sorts of flora and as she got closer to the ground, Ladybug could see blooms of white butterflies flitting about a white pod of sorts. She couldn’t see what was in it due to the sunlight reflected off the surface, but beside it was the crumpled form of Gabriel Agreste. 

Beyond the platform, a great window opened to the bright world beyond, another butterfly motif adorning it in wrought iron. White light spilled through it casting an eerie glow over the platform below and its contents.

Ladybug was becoming antsy as she neared the ground where a cat walk connected her to the platform. A small part of her that wanted to run away from this all, another thought that Chat would find the fact that there was a catwalk beneath his house highly amusing, but that side was quickly hushed when she thought of the reason there was even one here. 

This was Hawkmoth’s lair.

The elevator stopped with a shudder and she got off, walking towards whatever it was before her, whatever Gabriel had thought more important than the lives of others, more important than his own son.

She was speed walking towards Gabriel but slowed when she got closer. She felt the panic and fear rise in her as she saw just what was in the pod. 

Before her was Adrien’s beloved mother who had been missing for years. Her heart stilled as she stood directly before the sleeping form of Emilie Agreste, the one that they’d already held an empty casket funeral for.

Marinette remembered the day the police declared her dead, how sad Adrien had been, remembered how on patrol that night, Chat hadn’t uttered a single pun. She remembered the funeral, remembered lowering the empty coffin into the grave, already marked by a cold headstone, how flowers piled up on top as people left. She’d stayed as long as possible, because Gabriel had refused to show and she wanted to be there for Adrien. 

_Gabriel had refused to show_. 

Even when Adrien had left. Even when the hole was slowly filled with dirt. She had watched it all, unable to allow herself to look away, and he had never come. The thought reverberated almost meaninglessly in her head. It made sense why he didn’t come now. 

The realization of it all fell heavily on her shoulders. It made her stomach turn and she would have thrown up had she anything _to_ throw up. 

She looked numbly at the breeding ground of the butterflies, the idea that maybe her death was a source of energy to the butterflies disgusted her, before looking down at Gabriel’s shuddering form. He drew in ragged breath after ragged breath, barely shifting the butterflies that had decided to rest on him. 

He sagged on the left side of the pod, on his knees, his right arm folded and resting over the glass. His head rested on his arm, glasses gone. His left hung loosely in his lap, a small locket resting in his open palm. It held a picture of Emilie inside. Beside the picture was a peacock shaped brooch. He stared down at it with such thought she could almost hear him thinking. 

Honestly, Ladybug wasn’t sure how he’d gotten here, whether it was the strength that came from his transformed state or something else, for his white suit was torn and stained from a giant hole, almost a foot in diameter, in his stomach. He must’ve been stabbed through like Adrien, but worse, and he had pulled himself off of it on his own and made his way all the way down here to his dead wife. Surprisingly there was no pool of blood, as if maybe all the arteries and vessels in the wound had cauterized themselves, leaving only a gaping black hole. 

A strained whisper escaped his lips and she could barely hear it. He did not move his gaze from the purple brooch. She crouched down, awaiting for his words. 

“I only wanted her back…”

The cogs in her brain clicked forward slowly at his admission, and the numbness began to fade, she grasped at it desperately, she didn’t want to feel anything yet, but it evaded her. “I just wanted her to come back.” he breathed, “..wanted Adrien to be happy again… wanted _us_ to be happy again.” 

She shook her head, tears screaming in her eyes. She didn’t want to hear this, didn’t want his excuses, didn’t want to see _this_. 

She swallowed hard, working her throat to make her voice come out. “That’s not how it works.” she replied as quiet as he had. “That’s when you band together with him, and try to make do. Do you know how much you’ve hurt him?” The corner of his mouth quirked up a little. It was a pained, half smile, the pain not only from his dying body, but the guilt as well. “I do.” 

“Then why?” she pleaded, knowing that he _knew_ what he’d done, she wanted to punch him, to make these last minutes worse because heaven knows what more pain finding his father dead and knowing he was Hawkmoth would do to Adrien, but that thought revolted her, made her feel like she had dipped down to his level. 

“Because... I thought that if I brought her back, then maybe things would return. He started to leave me, you see. He’d never done that before and I became scared that it was too late.” 

She hated Gabriel. She hated what he’d done to Adrien. She didn’t want to forgive him. But soon, regret and pity rolled over her. 

Like Adrien, she had hoped that maybe, just maybe, Gabriel cared about his son. And he did, it just wasn’t the way they wished he did. 

Marinette wanted to be angry, to believe that he deserved this, but she couldn’t bring herself to. Even if she didn’t like it, like him or what he’d done, in fact she hated it, she understood where he was coming from. When she’d heard Chat’s scream, she feared she’d never see him again. She feared that when she found him she’d find him dead, his eyes dark and cloudy, never to look into hers again with that mischief that she’d come to love, his stomach torn open like Gabriel’s, his body still warm. And she would blame herself for not getting there fast enough, because maybe if she’d ripped her arm open by yanking it through the rod and just pulled her leg out instead of worrying about the pain and her own life she could have saved him, even though she knew that in such a state he was unsavable, no matter what she did.

Marinette couldn’t live without Adrien, her partner through all the nightmares she faced, her love for now and eternity. If she had lost her love like Gabriel did, she knew she too would try anything to get him back, though she had to admit, this would not have been her first idea. 

She would have likely ripped off her tourniquets and waited to die, hoping regretfully that her loved ones would understand because if he was gone, she’d never be herself again, he’d become such a large part of her without her notice. Dying a second time surely wouldn’t hurt as much as the first time. Thinking these things, understanding Gabriel, weighed heavily on her heart and she wished she could forget it all and run back to Adrien, to see him alive and well, convince her this was all just another nightmare, that Hawkmoth wasn’t who he was, but something held her here, a feeling that told her she needed to listen.

He looked up at her then, disturbing her reverie. “I’ve only seen it once,” he said, “by chance.” His expression was soft, full of love and affection, so very different than the night before. This is what Adrien needed to see, not her. This is what he should have shown before. This is how he should’ve acted _before_. Not now. Not when the world had been flipped on its head. “Your smile is much like Emilie’s, warm and encompassing. If it is with you, I think he will be fine.”

That shocked her to her core.

He turned his gaze back to the brooches in his hand. “I want you to have these.” His voice was quieter, barely even a whisper. “They should have never found their way to me.” He looked back up at her again, “Please take care of them, and tell him I’m sorry.” She only nodded, unable to forge words past the knot in her throat. He was entrusting her with Nooroo, Duusu, and Adrien. She didn’t understand what had changed, and she wasn’t sure if she should be angry or not, but decided that it was probably best to just accept his actions for what they were, which meant, somehow, sometime, he had seen her smile, and knew who she was, she thought so because of the knowing glint in his eyes that mixed with regret. How he had figured her out, when had he seen her smile, she didn’t know, because she didn’t smile in front of Gabriel, always too scared and timid to face him. 

It was strange to see the regret in his eyes. He had realized how wrong his actions were, and it bugged her that she didn’t know why he’d only just realized it, so she decided it must be because he’s about to lose everything.

It was funny how people only realized the importance of things when they couldn’t have them. 

He moved the best he could to look over at Emilie, “My sweet Emilie....” His voice died then, but that was fine, she knew that the rest of what he said was only meant for Emilie’s ears. She turned away, even as she saw the apology on his face, feeling as if she were intruding.

After a few seconds, she stopped hearing the rasping of air as it passed through his mouth without sound and she turned back to him, afraid of what she might see. His eyes were unfocused and dull, staring off into eternity. His body had stopped moving entirely and she heard one final exhale. If he had green eyes, she was sure she would have broken right then and there. The relaxed expression on his face scared her.

How was she going to tell Adrien? What should she leave out? She couldn’t let him lose his parents a second time.

She bent down and grabbed the purple and peacock brooches from his hand, closing the purple one tightly, before reaching over and pulling Gabriel’s eyes shut. It was better when his eyes were closed.

“Nooroo.” she whispered, and he appeared. He was tired and weak, looking worse than Tikki had last night. Suddenly worried, she called for Duusu as well. She looked just as bad as Nooroo. They were both so exhausted. She was sure then it was them who had been keeping him alive. “I’m sorry Nooroo, Duusu, for not being able to rescue you both sooner.”

“It’s fine,” Nooroo said, “you came for us eventually.” Ladybug shook her head. “Just because I did eventually doesn’t mean I didn’t get to you fast enough.” Nooroo only nuzzled further into her hand in response and fell asleep. Duusu looked like she wanted to stay awake, had more to say, but was just too exhausted. She curled up within her hands after Nooroo’s example and was quickly swallowed in sleep.

Ladybug grabbed her lucky charm, she hoped that this didn’t work for a short moment, an angry part of her whispered, but then she thought of Adrien and hoped dearly that it did. She wasn’t sure what she’d do if this didn’t work, but it needed to. She needed it to. She threw it into the air with a soft “Miraculous Ladybug.” so soft that it was almost as quiet as Gabriel at his end. It was like the air itself wished to go undisturbed in this place of rest. She watched as the charm burst into millions of magical ladybugs that swarmed the air. When she opened her eyes again, she saw gratefully that Gabriel’s shoulders shifted, breathing in air, the hole gone, not a single sign of blood left, not on his suit, nor on the path behind her. Paris was fixed, and Hawkmoth was defeated, perhaps even the cruel Gabriel as well. She really would be furious if, when he awoke, he acted like nothing changed. Especially after all that. 

The scene of a dying Gabriel beside his wife flashed to the front of her mind before she buried it down, suddenly very glad she hadn’t had anything to eat yet. 

She felt the tug of her partner, he was coming to find her, and she needed to leave. She would have even if he didn’t come. She never wanted to be here again and she morbidly wondered what would happen to Emilie’s body for a split second. 

Cradling the two kwami, she ran for the elevator, the butterflies all flying after her. She leapt up the elevator chamber, jumping from side to side, unwilling to wait for the elevator to take her up, she would be faster.

She leaped higher and higher before jumping through the open hole at the top and ran out of the building, closing everything on her way out. She rushed out of there, swinging around the newly fixed buildings. She knew she was faster, she always was unless he ran the streets, but that fact didn’t stop her from trying to be even faster, just to be sure that she was far enough away from the mansion. 

She wished she had never gone there alone, never had gone at all, and if she thought so, Adrien would be worse had he gone with her. As if recognizing that she was thing of her kitty, she felt the string connecting him to her pull taut, as if he was pulling her to him and she gladly let him. 

She could barely hold herself together when she swung right into him. He held her still, keeping her from falling over. In his arms she noticed her breathing was far more labored than it should be. 

She looked up into his eyes. 

His beautiful green eyes. The green eyes that she loved, the green eyes that he shared with his mother, and she wondered what she should do. 

Should she hide it? It’d tear him apart to know his father was Hawkmoth. She didn’t want that. She really didn’t. Maybe she could lie. She hated lies, but right now, she could see why people would want to lie.

It’d have to be convincing, and despite how terrible a liar she was, a story miraculously spun itself into existence in her head, goading her to use it. She could tell him that she found the miraculous in a pool of blood, that the swarm of butterflies is what led her to them. It would be so easy. She could tell him that story. She could keep it hidden. At that moment she knew she could. If it was for him. The words would come out easily. But did she want to?

Would telling this lie actually do him any good? 

She almost wanted to believe that it would. It would save him so much grief because despite it all, he loved his father and Gabriel was actually repentant and he would actually try now. She could save him the pain. He doesn’t need to know, it’s useless information now. There’s no reason to know when Hawkmoth will never appear again. 

She opened her mouth, the lie just at the tip of her tongue. She hoped that this lie would be enough, that he would accept it and wouldn’t push. But then he looked at her. It had taken a moment, but the worry, pain, and fear on her face registered, and even beneath the mask she could tell how his brow was furrowing. His attention was now all on her. Only her. Waiting for what she had to say. At that moment, she was all that mattered to him. And she remembered how he’d looked at her all this time. The words they exchanged last night. Her dreams of the future, and she realized how those dreams will forcefully change. 

Most of them might come true with the exception of Gabriel, or all of them would shatter and grey, it all depended on what she would say.

They were partners. Two halves of a whole. He was her other half and even now she could feel herself settle in her skin as he held her there, as if she hadn’t been wearing it quite right before and is only now realizing the difference between closing her eyes and sleeping. She had been fine without him before, she could likely have lived her whole life without ever having to meet him, but he somehow made the world so much brighter. It was as she thought earlier. If she lost that spark, it’d be as if she herself died. 

The pressure of the past day, of what she’d just witnessed, was finally settling on her like a heavy cloud with the decision she was about to make. 

The pressure of it all threatened to break her then and there. 

Long term pain or short term? What would she choose?

“My Lady?” He asked since she hadn’t spoken yet, and she heard all of the love and concern in his voice. The words echoed in her head in thousands of different ways, every single time he’d ever uttered the nickname to her replaying in her mind. And the slowly settling cloud crashed on her, stealing her breath away. 

She had ignored it when Tikki wasn’t there after the explosion, ignored it when she had accepted losing her leg, ignored it when she heard his wretched scream, ignored it when she saw the crimson spike that had once stabbed into Adrien and the blood pooling around it, ignored it when they had to start walking, ignored it when she woke to the burning in her body. Some of it had eased when she found herself healed, some of it eased when she was in her love’s arms, and for the rest she convinced herself it wasn’t there. But it had continued to grow when she had called on the Lucky Charm, when she’d reached the mansion and seen the blood, when she had seen Emilie and the hole in Gabriel, when she heard what he had to say and watched him breathe his last, and when she had freed Nooroo and Duusu. The only thing that had kept her from breaking down yet, no matter how close she come to doing so, was her duty as Ladybug and Chat, her beloved Chat, the one who made her whole. And he hadn’t been there five minutes ago, when the war had finally ended. He hadn’t been there to hold her. 

When the that last thought had formed, she saw the gaping hole in Gabriel’s -Hawkmoth’s- stomach and thought of the small puncture in her love, the puncture that could have been like her vision, the memory of Adrien shifting to imitate that of her personal nightmare. 

She had been so close to losing him. So close.

It was all too much.

Tears sprang to her eyes as she inhaled sharply. It hurt. 

All of this hurt. All of this was unfair. 

She couldn’t tear her gaze away from her beloved’s eyes, so instead she clutched Nooroo and Duusu closer, feeling their limp weight, they hadn’t been affected by the miraculous cure and that scared her. 

She was suddenly very aware of where they were. It was a street she’d passed a thousand times as Ladybug, a street that had been destroyed and rebuilt a thousand times. A street that carried the blood of so many, and that blood is on Hawkmoth’s, Gabriel’s, her minou’s father’s, hands, even if it was as if that blood had never been spilt, it was his fault. He’d caused so much trauma. Thankfully people would forget most of the fights if they were caught in them, but some weren’t that lucky. 

It was all so unfair. 

Beneath the weight she’d not noticed she was carrying, without fully realizing, she made a choice, and that choice tore at her. But this was better, she knew that this was right. 

She’d never wished that Hawkmoth never existed more than today. 

She grit her teeth. She was about to hurt her kitty. She was going to cause him pain. 

When she opened her mouth again, the horrible ugly truth spilled out, tears finally flowing over her lucky mask and covered her flush cheeks, her sight going blurry, and she almost couldn’t hear herself say the words, the sound of her own heart breaking was so much louder. 

“Your father is Hawkmoth.” The words retched out of her with a rasp, as if it was her that was dying, as if she was the one with a giant hole in her stomach, and she could see the physical blow. It took a few moments, a few puzzle pieces finding their space, before it finally hit home. 

He believed her, she knew he did, because he knew her, and he knew that she was completely serious. And he knew his father, and knew it was completely possible and _made sense_. That was the worst part, that you couldn’t actually be surprised. That he seemed the type to do it, and that what was surprising was that he was sorry. 

His face scrunched up in pain and he inhaled as if he was drowning. Then exhaled, trying to just _breathe_ , but it was a garbled strained sound. He had recoiled from her but kept his arms around her, because she was the only thing keeping him here, anchoring him. 

His pain multiplied her own because she was the deliverer and had no way of changing the truth, however she might wish to. 

After a moment longer of staring into his hurt filled eyes, the pain was so much worse than his injuries from last night, he pulled her closer, a sob escaping him. He held her tightly, enough to hurt a normal person, but not her, his partner, and burrowed his face into the crook of her neck, hidden behind the curtain of midnight that was her hair. 

It was too much to realize that you’ve been fighting your father this entire time, that your father had been okay with throwing thousands of lives into disarray for his own gain. He hadn’t even heard the part about Emilie yet. She didn’t want to be the one to tell him. 

He wept, his body racked with sobs. His knees gave out and despite her own weakness, she held him up. He desperately clung to her as if she was the only thing he could believe in now and maybe she was. Gabriel had just upended his life and spent it spiraling down into an oblivion he didn’t know how to deal with, even if he had changed. 

Ladybug looked up at the sky, one arm wrapped up and around his back, cupping his neck, the other clasping the kwami closely to her, letting her tears just spill out. 

The sky above was a brilliant and wonderful spring morning blue. 

It really was unfair. 

She wondered at the affect four words could have on someone. 

~*~

Marinette recognized that he couldn’t go with her to inform the citizens that the evacuation could end, nor could he give a statement against his own father, and she knew he couldn’t go home, so after he’d cried himself to sleep in his Lady’s arms, his transformation eventually breaking to release a tired Plagg, she brought him to her room and put him to bed. She left Plagg, Nooroo, and Duusu with him before running over to the evacuation camp. 

It was around five in the afternoon and people were growing weary from having to camp out, so tired Parisians had gladly let it be when all Ladybug said was Hawkmoth had been defeated, they could get their answers another day. 

When Ladybug returned to her room and saw her kitty still asleep in her bed, she fell down to her bed from her balcony gratefully. She was exhausted and still didn’t know what to do about Gabriel, she’d let Adrien decide once he’s fine with it and then they could go talk to Gabriel.

She sighed as she curled into Adrien. Even his sleep he reached out for her and gladly cuddled close, a remnant of grief on his face melting away. She wasn’t sure what she would have done had Adrien woken up and left. She wanted to be close to him tonight. Her nightmares tended to withdraw when she was in his arms and she was not looking forward to having images of Gabriel or Adrien dead and dying run round in endless loops in her head.

She was so glad he’d stayed. 

Exhaustion pulled at her body and she let it consume her. Despite everything, that night might have been the best sleep she’d gotten in ages.

~*~

When they had woken up, Adrien was first to bring up his father. They decided together that Gabriel should go to jail and pay for his crimes as Hawkmoth. Adrien was willing to face public opinion, even though Marinette knew well how much he didn’t want to. She knew that it would be painful under the scrutiny of the public both as Adrien and Chat. But this was his choice and she would support him however she needed him.

However, when they went to confront Gabriel hand in hand, he wasn’t home. When Adrien turned to Natalie for answers, they were met with a forlorn look and when Adrien asked “Where is Père?” her face flickered with multiple expressions, among them being confusion, anger, and loss, but most of all she looked betrayed. It was the most emotion Adrien had seen in Natalie ever.

“Where is Père?” He asked again, a note of uncertainty in his voice. Natalie’s mouth opened and closed, unable to find the words to say what she wanted to say, before finally she whispered “turned in.” It seemed that that was enough to make her voice work again for before Adrien could ask what she meant, she said louder, “Your father has turned himself in.” 

This news shocked both Adrien and Marinette. They hadn’t heard any news about it. Natalie cleared her throat, seeing their confusion and realizing she need to explain. Her face settled into a carefully blank mask before she began. 

“Your father turned himself into the police claiming to be Hawkmoth and showed them to a secret lair beneath the house.” Marinette hid a flinch brought on by the memory of that place.”They have enough evidence to convict him. You haven’t heard anything because in exchange for having come willingly, the police agreed to not go public with the identity of Hawkmoth if only to keep you from judging eyes.” Natalie’s voice had brought on a tone of confusion as she finished, and Marinette knew it was because she didn’t understand why Gabriel had made such a request, didn’t even understand why he had turned himself in, and most of all, why she had been spared, It wasn’t very hard connecting the dots after Marinette had learned Hawkmoth’s identity to realize that Mayura was Natalie. 

She continued on, the confusion still at the edge of her voice, “He has left everything to you. I have been left in charge until you are able to accept the inheritance.” Adrien was clearly bewildered. They were not expecting this. Marinette was shocked as well, relieved too, but she was waiting on one last bit of information.

She awaited, braced for the new round of emotions waiting to be hurled at Adrien and how he would take it. 

Natalie opened her mouth again and Marinette thought that she might say it now, but she closed her mouth, frowned, and turned away. Before she was gone though, she turned back to them and said, “He will be convicted within the hour. If you wish to visit him, now would be your chance. He is in his bedroom.” And then she left.

They both wanted answers and it took only one glance into each other’s eyes to recognize that they wanted the same thing. They headed to Gabriel’s bedroom. It had two police officers on either side of the door. When they entered the room, they spared only a glance towards them. 

Gabriel was sitting up in his bed, gazing at a painting of Emilie until they had entered and now his eyes alighted on them. He immediately zeroed in on Marinette and his eyes glowed with recognition and gratitude, then they slide to Adrien and softened in a way similar to how they had beside Emilie’s pod. 

Before either of them could get a word out, he said, “I’m sorry.” 

Adrien flinched, confused and unsure of what was happening. He hadn’t seen his father like this for years. The last time had been before Emilie disappeared. Marinette squeezed his hand, reassuring him that she was there. Gabriel noticed and smiled at her. 

Finally, Adrien choked out, “Why...?” Gabriel waited patiently for him to finish asking his question as he watched Adrien struggle over the words. Marinette already knew what he wanted to ask, but she wouldn’t do it for him, she knew that he needed to do this part. 

“Why did you become Hawkmoth? What changed to make you do this?” Marinette knew the answer to the first one and had a clue about the second, but she wanted to hear him explain so that she knows for sure. 

“I wanted to bring your mother back.” Marinette recognized how he didn’t mention anything about her being dead or how he kept her body in a secret room surrounded by butterflies but she didn’t say anything. Instead she waited for him to answer the second question.

“Being on the edge of death made me realize what was more important to me.” He finished and she heard all the words he didn’t say. That he realized Adrien was Chat, that he didn’t want to fight his son, and that he should’ve been there for him when Emilie “went missing.” She wasn’t sure how he had realized their identities, but he had had a lot of time to think about it. 

Adrien looked like he wanted to say more, but there was a knock at the door. One of the policemen came in and said that it was time to go. Gabriel was going to jail. Adrien looked downcast but moved to leave the room as another policeman came in to guide Gabriel to the car. 

As he passed, she reached out before thinking, she needed one more answer before he could go. His grey blue eyes shimmered in amusement as he looked down at her and somehow reminded her of his son. She thought that they were nothing alike, but now she saw that at one time, Adrien had actually gotten along with Gabriel and he had held onto some traits he’d picked up from him. 

Marinette pulled him closer, so that the policemen couldn’t hear what she said. “What about Emilie?” Regret crossed his facial features for a split second before going back to the soft smile that had become as permanent on his face as his scowl had once been. 

“Adrien has already mourned his mother, I didn’t want him to have to again, so her casket is being dug up so she can properly be buried. Maybe one day you can tell him that the grave isn’t empty for me.” and then he was gone. 

Gabriel Agreste, Hawkmoth and evil supervillain, whisked silently away to prison.

She would likely never see him again. Seeing how he’d changed, she almost hoped she could see him again. In any case, she was glad to have seen him today, because she felt as if she could forget the way he looked when he had died now.

~*~

It’d been quite some time since Gabriel was arrested and Hawkmoth disappeared. There wasn’t much for a super hero to do anymore. She and Adrien still patrolled, still helped however they could, they just didn’t do it as often, instead focusing on their civilian lives, which actually meant their relationship.

Adrien sat beside Marinette on her bed. It was late in the night and they were cuddled close. There was no way Marinette could go back to sleeping alone. The akuma induced nightmares still haunted her and even now she could never truly bring her to stop being prepared to hop into battle at any moment, so having her Chat next to her, wrapping her up safely in his arms, comforted her like nothing else could, and it seemed that holding her had the same affect on him as it did her. He seemed to calm down when he could touch her. 

Adrien purred beside her as she ran her fingers through is hair. She still loved the sound. 

When she stopped, her arm becoming tired, he simply snuggled closer, a sigh escaping his lips as he reached across her for her left wrist. He’d come to like brushing his fingers across her scar. 

She knew what he was going to say next. They’d already had this conversation enough times that she could feel when he was about to bring it up again. Marinette thinks he starts the conversation just to hear the affirmations.

“What are we gonna do now?” He asked. “There’s no villain anymore, can we really keep our miraculous?”

“Of course we can, there’s no way anyone will be able to tear Plagg from you.” She heard Plagg snort in agreement from somewhere in the room followed by Tikki’s giggle. 

“But what are we going to do with the miraculous when there’s no villain?” The question comes out like a rehearsed line, she waits to answer, knowing he liked this part the most. 

“We’re going to continue being heroes. Together against the world, remember mon minou?” Adrien who had slowly sunk to her lap looked up at her with a sleepy smile that warms her insides. He blinks slowly at her. Just getting to see him so happy about that promise is enough to make Marinette gladly repeat the conversation as many times as he wants. 

With half lidded eyes and a smile he says, “I remember M’Lady.” She smiled back down at him and lowered her head. He reached up as she did so, and they met for a kiss. It lasted for a few seconds, both of them just enjoying the warmth that envelops from the contact, and then she pulled back, keeping her head inches above him so she could look him in the eyes. 

She brushed aside some of his hair, it had grown quite a bit, and ran her thumb across the tattoo like scar on his forehead, remembering how it connected him to her. She smiled as she stared down into the chartreuse depths of his eyes, feeling all the love in the world rise up in her and burn like a fire in her chest. 

“Together forever.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Constructive criticism, questions, and feedback welcome!  
> Thank you all so much for reading my first fic! <<3


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